Study on the Motion Characteristics of Suction-Based Deep-Sea Polymetallic Nodule Mining

XUE Jingtian; XIA Qiu; JIA Hao; LI Chen

doi:10.21656/1000-0887.450329

Volume 46 Issue 12

Dec. 2025

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Article Navigation > Applied Mathematics and Mechanics > 2025 > 46(12): 1598-1611

XUE Jingtian, XIA Qiu, JIA Hao, LI Chen. Study on the Motion Characteristics of Suction-Based Deep-Sea Polymetallic Nodule Mining[J]. Applied Mathematics and Mechanics, 2025, 46(12): 1598-1611. doi: 10.21656/1000-0887.450329

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Study on the Motion Characteristics of Suction-Based Deep-Sea Polymetallic Nodule Mining

doi: 10.21656/1000-0887.450329

Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Multiflow and Fluid Machinery, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, P.R.China

Funds:

The National Science Foundation of China(52206056)

Received Date: 2024-12-13
Rev Recd Date: 2025-04-05

Available Online: 2025-12-31

Abstract

Abstract

Polymetallic nodule mineral resources are distributed planarly in the form of coarse-grained nodules on the deep seabed. Owing to the fragility of the deep-sea environment and the urgency of environmental protection of the international seabed, it is of practical significance to study the collection rate and the disturbance of the seabed under different operating conditions during the movement of the mineral collecting device. A coupled computational fluid dynamics and discrete element method (CFD-DEM) was used to simulate the collection process of coarse-grained ore under the action of a suction collector pipe. The results show that, the tilted placement of the pipe facilitates the pumping of massive ores on the downstream side of the pipe, which is conducive to improving the particle collection rate. The horizontal movement of the collector pipe and the suction movement of the pipeline form a superposition of disturbances to the flow field; under the superposed disturbances, the particle collection rate increases and then decreases with the collector pipe horizontal movement speed, and increases with the collector pipe tilt angle to a certain extent. The turbulent kinetic energy of the seafloor decreases with the collector pipe horizontal movement speed, and increases and then decreases with the collector pipe tilt angle. Comprehensive analysis indicates that, the collector pipe horizontal movement speed of 0.6 m/s and the collector pipe tilt angle of 45° are the optimal working conditions to meet the requirements of high collection rates and low environmental disturbances in the parameter range of the study. The results can be used as a reference for the design of deep-sea polymetallic nodule collecting devices with high collection rates and low environmental disturbances.
- deep-sea mining,
- suction collection,
- particle motion,
- collection rate,
- seafloor disturbance,
- CFD-DEM

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References(21)

References

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